Chapter 19 - Greatest Scientific Villain
I stared at the object in my hand.
"This... This fucking trash thing?!"
My voice echoed across the quiet lakeside.
I took a deep breaths to calm myself.
Currently, I was sitting beside a crystal-clear lake in Yellowstone National Park.
Or at least, the Yellowstone National Park of this parallel Earth.
According to the memories of my alternate self, even though he lived in the 21st century.
My Earth still retained some names and roughly the same geography even though I was technically in the 8th century here.
The only difference was that wildlife here had a tendency to eat people.
A cool breeze swept across the lake, carrying the scent of damp earth and pine.
Normally, it would be a beautiful place to relax.
Instead, I was wondering why fate seemed determined to troll me.
I had come all the way here for an opportunity that originally belonged to one of the female leads in the novel called: Rise of the Great Tamer.
Unlike ordinary Heroes, her Aspect specialized in nurturing life.
She grew stronger alongside the things she raised like plants, beasts and natural spirits.
Her second major opportunity had been hidden here.
A three century year old plant that had absorbed pure nature energy since its birth.
After the world changed because of rifts, plants weren’t exempt from evolution.
Some even became medicinal herbs worth fortunes while some transformed into monsters.
The rarest among them became what Heroes called: Natural Treasures.
Objects born entirely from nature itself.
Finding even one could change a Hero’s future as it somewhat had the property of enhance or strengthen one’s Aspect.
"Or at least that’s what the novel said."
I looked at the wilted weed lying in my palm.
I had searched this for nearly three hours.
Climbed cliffs, crossed streams and even nearly got chased by an oversized bear.
Only to find, this pathetic-looking plant.
It had no energy or mutation.
Just...
A weed.
"Am I somehow cursed or what."
This wasn’t even the first time.
Over the past week, I had visited three different locations that should have contained hidden opportunities.
And every single one had been a disappointment.
Either someone had already claimed the treasure.
Or it simply didn’t exist.
"This is starting to feel personal."
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was playing a rigged game.
Every time I thought I had found another shortcut.
I was face slapped by reality.
Still, giving up now wasn’t an option.
Because this place contained two hidden opportunities.
The first belonged to the novel.
That one had clearly failed.
Fortunately, the second came from the game itself.
And unlike novels, games loved hiding absurd rewards behind ridiculously obscure quests.
I stood up and dusted off my pants.
Now it was time for Plan E.
A to D were wasted.
Compared to the previous opportunity, this one was considerably more dangerous.
Because it wasn’t connected to any protagonist.
It belonged to a villain.
And one of the game’s major antagonists.
His belief was simple.
Heroes or powerful people weren’t just humanity’s salvation.
They were humanity’s greatest threat.
His manifesto had once asked.
"What happens, when the strongest Hero decides our country is no longer worth protecting? Or worse tyrannically rule it?"
A disturbingly valid question.
And his answer was equally simple: Destroy the Rifts.
Erase the source of supernatural power.
Return humanity to an age where no individual could rule through overwhelming strength alone.
Most people dismissed him as a madman.
But as I gained a different perspective, to me, he was a terrifying genius.
Not because of an Aspect or some legendary bloodline.
But because his greatest weapon was Science.
Pure, uncompromising, utterly unreasonable science.
The kind of science that ignored common sense, laughed in the face of physics, and somehow still worked.
"Honestly, I should probably be terrified."
Instead, I couldn’t help feeling excited.
Because if my memories were correct.
Somewhere around this lake.
The abandoned lab of, one of the greatest scientific villain was here.
***
I circled the entire lake thrice.
"Nothing?"
I rubbed my chin thinking like a villain.
"If I were designing a secret laboratory,"
My eyes slowly drifted toward the lake.
"I would hide the entrance underwater because that is cool."
The thought made too much sense.
Which meant, I was going swimming.
Fortunately, I came prepared.
I set my backpack beneath the shade of a large pine tree and checked its contents one last time.
A sturdy climbing rope, a foldable shovel, a flashlight and spare clothes.
Enough emergency supplies to survive a night outdoors if things went terribly wrong.
"Please don’t let someone steal this."
Satisfied, I stripped down until only my shorts remained.
The afternoon breeze felt surprisingly cold against my skin.
I stretched my shoulders.
Rolled my neck.
Splash!
"...!"
The water was much colder than expected.
Tiny bubbles escaped as I forced myself deeper beneath the surface.
The lake was astonishingly clear.
Sunlight pierced the water in shimmering beams while schools of small fish darted around the rocks.
Beautiful.
But every few moments I surfaced.
Splash!
"Gah!"
I inhaled air desperately.
"My lung capacity isn’t that great..."
I floated on my back for a moment before diving again.
Minutes became hours.
My fingers were wrinkled.
My eyes stung from staring through the water.
Even with my Rejuvenation ability reducing fatigue, constantly diving and resurfacing was exhausting.
"Maybe the game developers hated players."
Dive. Search. Surface. Repeat.
This is what I did for quite some time.
’Huh?’
Half-hidden beneath a curtain of algae, something metallic reflected the sunlight.
I immediately swam toward it.
Brushing away moss revealed a thick circular hatch embedded directly into the lakebed.
’No way.’
It looked exactly like the hatch of an old submarine with a large iron handwheel in the center.
I grabbed the wheel.
It didn’t move.
I planted both feet against the hatch and pulled harder.
Still nothing.
I poured every ounce of strength into it.
Groooonk...
The rusted mechanism finally shifted.
By the time the wheel had almost completed its final turn, my lungs were screaming.
I kicked toward the surface as fast as I could.
Splash!
"Haa... Haa...!"
I greedily inhaled fresh air.
Just then.
A tiny voice called out nearby.
I turned.
A young couple was walking along the lakeside with what looked to be their three-year-old daughter.
The little girl pointed directly at me.
"Mommy-mommy, that big brother is weird."
The mother looked embarrassed.
"You shouldn’t point at people like that, sweetie."
The father, meanwhile, looked at me.
Then glanced toward the empty shoreline where my backpack sat.
He slowly reached over and covered his daughter’s eyes.
"Let’s keep walking."
"Okay, Daddy."
The family hurried away.
As they disappeared down the trail, the father glanced back one final time.
The expression on his face clearly said.
Even though you have a good face, don’t take all those fishes in the lake.
"..."